“Earth-Tiger,” Qi Xia called out. “As we agreed before… I’ve come back to find you.”

“Sheep…”

Earth-Tiger was just about to speak when Qi Xia raised his hand to stop him, saying, “Qi Xia.”

“Oh… oh… Qi Xia.” Earth-Tiger nodded. “Right now is…?”

“There shouldn’t be any other ‘Participants’ coming to participate in your game today, right? I want to find a place to talk.” Qi Xia gestured with his eyes at Earth-Tiger, then looked at the building behind him.

“Okay.” Earth-Tiger thought for a moment and nodded. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Xu Liunian also getting out of the taxi.

“Sheep… Brother Qi…” Earth-Tiger called out.

“Qi Xia,” Qi Xia corrected.

“Okay, okay, Qi Xia…” Earth-Tiger scratched his head. “Who is this?”

“More or less a teammate on the same front,” Qi Xia said. “Let her come in together.”

Xu Liunian looked at Earth-Tiger before her, then at Qi Xia, feeling the situation had completely exceeded her expectations.

Why would an “Earth Level” be so polite to a “Participant”?

“Got it, I’ll tidy up!” Earth-Tiger respectfully turned back and opened the door, then led the two into the building.

This time he didn’t go directly to the elevator. Instead, he took out a key and opened the wooden door beside the elevator, and a staircase leading downward appeared before everyone.

The venue here still retained traces left from when Qiao Jiajin and Luo Shiyi participated in the game last time. Although Earth-Tiger had carefully cleaned up, the wounds left from the battle of numerous “Echoes” were still clearly visible.

In the center of the venue was a square table with a candle lit on it.

Earth-Tiger brought out several chairs from a hidden spot and placed them beside the square table, then gestured for the two to sit down.

“Qi Xia, I don’t have many places to sit here.” Earth-Tiger scratched his head and said, “But it’s relatively quiet here. I won’t be opening for business today either, so whatever you need, just say it.”

“I wouldn’t dare to give orders,” Qi Xia said. “I just need you to help with something.”

“Okay! No problem, if there’s anything, just leave it to me!” Earth-Tiger said carelessly. After speaking, he reached up to scratch the wound on his face.

This wound looked very fresh. The blood had now scabbed over, forming clumps on his hair-covered face.

“Are you sure there’s no problem?”

Qi Xia frowned and, by the light of the candle flame, carefully examined Earth-Tiger. Only then did he realize he was truly badly injured. Not only had his large tiger face been broken by someone, but his legs and feet also seemed to have become less agile.

“What problem could I have?!”

Earth-Tiger slapped the table, his expression particularly agitated, but his body looked very weak. He seemed to want to cough a few times but ultimately gritted his teeth and held it back.

“Then tell me first,” Qi Xia leaned back in his chair and gently tapped the table with his hand. “You’ve gotten yourself into this state. Did something happen?”

“I…” Earth-Tiger’s eyes wandered, hesitating to speak. “Qi Xia… I… should we really talk here?”

Xu Liunian on the side looked at the two, also saying in a low voice, “I also feel it’s inappropriate… Should we speak so openly like this?”

“Heh…” Qi Xia snorted coldly. “We didn’t hide anything before, so there’s even less need to hide now… The person monitoring us is ‘Qinglong’ himself. If problems were going to arise, they would have arisen already. Right now he needs me, so it’s impossible for him to let anything happen to me.”

“Qinglong…?” Earth-Tiger was stunned.

“But there might be more than one ‘Spirit Hearing’!” Xu Liunian said in a low voice. She looked at Qi Xia, then glanced at Earth-Tiger. “The ‘Zodiac’ should know better than me…”

“It’s Dog,” Earth-Tiger nodded. “The superior of摆烂狗, the ears of the entire ‘Heaven Level.'”

“So we don’t need to avoid talking?” Xu Liunian asked.

“Probably not,” Qi Xia said. “What comes next can be said directly for him to hear.”

“What…?” Xu Liunian and Earth-Tiger looked at each other. “You think that… ‘Dog’ is also one of us?”

“How would I know?” Qi Xia said. “What does it matter to me whether he’s one of us or not?”

“This…”

Xu Liunian and Earth-Tiger still looked puzzled. “Since he’s not one of us, shouldn’t we be even more careful…”

“I already said,” Qi Xia explained. “Right now it’s ‘Qinglong’ who needs me to do things for him. Even if ‘Heavenly-Dog’ can hear, if any trouble arises, it’s Qinglong who will solve it. It has nothing to do with me.”

After hearing this, Xu Liunian felt a chill run down her back. After a few seconds, she opened her mouth to ask, “Qi Xia, from the first time you met Qinglong, were you already starting to use him?”

“Qinglong could have predicted it,” Qi Xia said. “Since he dared to appear directly before me, he should have anticipated the current result. When he wanted to wield an extremely destructive weapon, he should have been familiar with its side effects.”

“But aren’t you afraid Qinglong will suddenly go back on his word…?” Xu Liunian asked. “If he gets tired of you as a ‘chess piece,’ is it possible he’ll directly abandon you?”

“He has no choice,” Qi Xia shook his head and said with an indifferent expression. “Besides me, he can’t find a replacement. After all, only I am ‘Endless Life.'”

“‘Endless Life’…?” Earth-Tiger frowned after hearing this. “What is that…?”

“My ‘Echo,'” Qi Xia said to Earth-Tiger. “I suspect I’m moving forward along a path I once laid down. Now I’ve walked half the road… The next situation depends on you.”

“You really have an ‘Echo’?” Earth-Tiger felt somewhat surprised. “Four characters? Are you messing with me?”

Hearing Earth-Tiger’s words, Qi Xia turned his head to look at him and said, “Earth-Tiger, let me guess—when you knew me… I should have been an ‘Unfortunate One,’ right?”

Earth-Tiger was stunned after hearing this. “You… have memories?”

“No.” Qi Xia shook his head. “Logically speaking, the reason I became a ‘Zodiac’ was precisely because I couldn’t ‘Echo.’ At that time, I only had this one path left to take.”

After hearing this, Xu Liunian slowly frowned. “But Qinglong said you were ‘Spirit Hearing’…”

“If I’m not mistaken… I severed the ‘trigger’ of ‘Spirit Hearing.'” Qi Xia said decisively. “The trigger for ‘Spirit Hearing’ to awaken is ‘sadness.'”

“Severed…?” Xu Liunian narrowed her eyes, pondering the meaning in Qi Xia’s words. “How could you possibly sever ‘sadness’…?”

“I can’t verify the specific situation yet… Either by using methods that violate science, asking ‘Wangyou’ to do something to me back then…” After Qi Xia finished speaking, he tapped his temple. “Or by using scientific methods, forcibly planting a tumor that interferes with emotions in the frontal lobe of the brain.”